Great Summer Reads for Children

(Family Story)

Her book tells the story of Calypso, whose mum died a while ago and whose father can’t cope. He absorbs himself in writing about the ‘History of the Lemon’ and won’t talk about their loss. Calypso is left alone to fend for herself and it is only when she opens herself up to friendship with new girl, Mae, that she can move on. It’s a lovely tale of friendship and relationships and coping with change.

(Historical – World War 2)

Monica Hesse’s story of survival in Holland during the Second World War had me on the edge of my seat. Secretly working on the black market, Hanneke is used to finding almost anything for her paying customers, but as the Nazis begin gathering up more Jews to send to camps, she is given her biggest challenge yet – to find a missing Jewish girl – The Girl in the Blue Coat. But that’s not Hanneke’s only challenge. She’s also dealing with the loss of her boyfriend, who was killed in the war and the fact that she can’t afford to be found out as she is the only earner in her family. It’s a story about danger, risk, love and grief.

(Adventure – first of the The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series)

12 year old Torak and his adopted wolf-cub live 6,000 years ago in a world of clans and magic. They set off on a perilous journey to save their group and the world. If you like wolves, fantasy, magic and learning about the ancient world, you’ll love this story. There is lots of information and research and interesting detail.

This book is set thousands of years ago which makes it interesting to start with. 12 year old Torak has a wolf cub as a friend and they set out to defeat the evil forces which are threatening to take over their world. It is a brilliant adventure story with lots of twists and turns. If you like a series it’s part of the Ancient Chronicles of Darkness. I am now on the last book and don’t really want it to end.

By PJ aged 11
 

Imagine being a 12 year old criminal. That’s Artemis Fowl! With his family’s fortune gone, Artemis and his butler plan to steal all of the gold in fairy land. A funny, exciting and imaginative adventure story.

Michael Rosen’s Latest Book -(Comedy with great illustrations)

Michael Rosen tells the hilarious story of Malcolm, his mother Tess and the intensely irritating Uncle Gobb. Fed up with his bossy Uncle, Malcolm and his friend Crackersnacker plot to get rid of Uncle Gobb. If you like Michael Rosen’s wacky, fun style and enjoy great illustrations, this book is for you!

(Being different. Finding your special skill)

Much smaller than the rest of his class, living above a Chinese takeaway, Charlie Han doesn’t have an easy life. He has an overbearing, overprotective mum and a silent, conciliatory dad. His only friend is Sinus (Linus) whose big nose also makes him an outcast. Charlie is clumsy and a regular participant of the school ‘walk of shame’ and this seems to be his lot until he finds something that he might be good at. The only problem is that his mum can never find out what it is…

The Bubble Wrap Boy is a story of secrets, dreams and forgiveness. It is funny, quirky, sad and thought-provoking and has made my children think about that one thing that they could be really good at!

(Multi-perspective story that deals with teenage issues)

Leo is a half-English, half-Chinese girl who is on the run. She is an orphan with an uncle who seems to have inappropriate ideas about her. Running away appears to be her only option. For young teenagers, Julia Donaldson deals with difficult subjects such as mental illness, friendships and trust in a sensitive and down to earth manner.

In a bleak world, where we believe no animals exist, we meet Kester, a 12-year-old boy who lives in a home for disturbed children. There are no natural food sources and a large corporation runs everything. Kester doesn’t really know why he’s been here for the past six years, but when a flock of pigeons and a cockroach start talking to him, he is convinced that he’s gone mad. With their help Kester escapes and is taken to the last surviving group of animals in the land. He must decide to help find a cure to the disease, which has wiped out most of the animal kingdom or use the animals to find his way home.

This is an unusual, emotional, action-packed human tale, which will make children ask questions of themselves. It is the first part of a trilogy. The Dark Wild and The Wild Beyond complete the trilogy.

(Fantasy, magic and family)

(Adventure and Fantasy. Second of a Trilogy)

Having been pulled along on the terrifying and break-neck speed adventures of 12 year old Lyra Belacqua in the first of Philip Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy, The Subtle Knife takes over at just as fast a pace! This time the story is of Will who is on the run after killing a man. As he attempts to find his father, he discovers a different world with Lyra, her daemon and her quest to find the elusive Dark Matter. It’s a great story with lots of adventure, drama and peril. Lyra is one of my favourite characters in any book.

When Horace Andrews is sitting on the bus and sees his name on a sign, he decides to investigate. His curiosity leads him to discover an underground cellar of secrets, called the House of Answers – except Horace unearths more questions than answers! He meets Chloe and her dragonfly and they are soon catapulted into a world of magic that has some scientific basis. Despite its 544 pages, this book is hard to put down with real and familiar characters. Enjoyable for both children and adults.

(Action/Adventure/Folk)

This is the story of 12-year-old Moll, who lives in The Ancientwood with her adopted family. Moll isn’t sure of her past, but knows that someone or something is trying to control her dreams. In her gypsy camp home, she discovers that the drums, rattles and masks in her dreams, now exist in her daytime life. She doesn’t know that she is the only one who can beat the Dreamsnatcher as she and her wildcat companion, Gryff, are pulled into a face-paced, hair-raising adventure. Children will fall in love with the wild, but caring Moll and be right along side her and her friends Siddy and Alfie as they search for the truth. The next in the trilogy is The Shadowkeeper.

(Comedy/Diary)

Winner of the Blue Peter Best Book award 2015, this is a diary-style, funny story with secret plans and crazy stunts. Izzy is delighted that she has been chosen to look after new French girl, Matilde. Izzy and her friends can’t wait to show her their secret den and give her their advice on how to avoid the ‘poison’ that is school dinners. However, when they discover that Matilde actually likes school dinners, they decide that she must be some sort of spy who is after all of their secrets. This is a fun, easy read for the lower end of the age range.

(Factual)

Winner of the Blue Peter Best Book with Facts award 2015, this is a perfect book to take on holiday with masses of laugh-out-loud silly facts, jokes, lists and true stories. For those who are not so keen on fiction, this book gives great information on silly animals, people, inventions, names, words and even suggests silly stuff to do! Andy Seed also gives some examples of silly pranks, sports disasters and awful predictions. A great book to pull out on a long car journey.